Make Your Patterns Last Forever

 

Collecting great sewing patterns has been a hobby of mine for years now.  I love my little collection, it’s like a book someone published specifically to my taste.  Every so often I find a new favorite that I find myself pulling out over and over.  It’s always a bit sad when I pull out one of my old favorites and find pieces almost falling apart from use.

When I started selling patterns I found myself sewing even more.  The pattern maker is responsible for providing the store with the sample of their pattern all made up.  And that little fact translates to me making the same pattern over, and over, and over so that I can ship a little stuffed Dino (or dragon, or horse or whatever) to a new home in a shop window.  To keep my pattern pieces sharp, I began spray mounting them to card stock.  And loved it.  I can use and reuse the same pattern over and over and the pieces stay perfectly shaped.  And the process goes up so fast I’ve started to mount all my other patterns.  I just really love them, and I want to make sure they’re around for as long as I am still sewing!  And as an added bonus, the happy colors on the back of the pieces make them look so cute 🙂  I smile every time I pull a pattern out!

Fortifying your own pattern collection is easy.  You need the pattern, some acid free spray adhesive, scrapbook paper (more on this in a moment) and scissors.  You just spray the packs of pattern pieces (If your pattern pieces are already cut out, that’s fine! Just spray the back of each one.  If they’re not cut out yet, spray the whole sheet and cut later), stick it to the back of your chosen piece of paper and pat it down so it’s lying flat, let it dry and cut your pieces out again.  Easy peasy.

Now more about the paper.  I’ve done this a few ways and there are pros and cons to what kind of paper you use.  Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Pattern pieces can be mounted onto scrapbook paper, card stock or poster board with positive results.
• If you like to pin your pieces to your fabric, a lighter weight paper might suit you better. (the thicker papers bunch a little when pinned)
• If you prefer to use pattern weights or to trace your pieces onto your fabric (I do this when I use Minky because it slides everywhere when I cut it) then a card stock or poster board will work great for you.
• (You don’t have to go totally one way or the other; I often mount large, easy to cut pieces on heavy paper and small, detailed pieces on lighter paper)
• If you are going to use pins, pin carefully the first time you use your pattern after mounting the pieces.  You’ll likely use those same pin holes over and over.
• If your pattern includes pieces to create different objects, you can color coordinate the backs to help you quickly find what you need.
• I haven’t mounted a pattern printed on tissue paper yet.  (I’m pretty stuck in the independent pattern world, so I don’t get much time to sew from the larger pattern companies)  If you try it out, please do a test run on scrap before spraying your pattern pieces.  And then leave a comment to tell us how it went!

Hope this helps your pattern collection last for years and years!